Once Upon A Project
by Tai Luva
Summary: What does a rainy night, a project, and a cold have in store for Tai and Sora? Read if you want to find out. A Taiora friendship-ish fic, not really gushy love or anything ^_^
1. Tai's Day

Severely Taiora (I'm sorry, they're just sooo cute,) but kind of more of a friendship fic than real in depth love. By the way, I used the dub version names because, well, to be honest, I've never seen the Japanese version.*smiles sheepishly*  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or Bandai but if I did you could rest assured more episodes would feature Tai ^_^  
  
Once Upon A Project  
Chapter One: Tai's Day  
  
"Ugh." Tai fumbled around in the darkness, slamming his fist down onto the alarm clock until its incessant beeping stopped. His head was throbbing.  
  
He groaned and dragged himself through the dark hallway into the bathroom, shivering - the house was colder than it usually was in the morning. He'd have to turn up the thermostat before he went to school. He flicked on the bathroom light and squinted, somehow it seemed brighter this morning as well. He groaned a second time as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. That couldn't have been him.  
  
His normally bright, chocolate brown eyes stared back at him - lethargic and glazed over, rimmed with dark circles. His skin was paler than usual and had a waxy, sallow look to it, while his lips were dry and cracked. What a day to be sick. He had a major physics test in second period that was worth ten percent of their mark. He couldn't afford to miss it. If his average dropped below eighty his mom had threatened to take him out of soccer. And on the subject of soccer, college scouts were coming to watch tonight's game for some of the older boys. Sure, he didn't have to worry about it for two more years, but it was never too early to make a good impression. He wondered what they would think of him if he just crawled up under the bench and slept. Not much, probably.  
  
Tai turned the taps on in the shower and stripped, waiting for the water to heat up. Stepping inside, the steaming liquid running down his body, he began to work the shampoo through his hair and yawned loudly. He loved having the shower first in the morning. If he happened to get stuck after Kari or his mom the water was always freezing. He didn't understand what could possibly take women so long in the bathroom, it wasn't like they really had more to wash or something. Oh well, just another mystery of the female of the species he would never solve. He rinsed out the shampoo and closed his eyes, allowing the bubbles to slide soothing over him.   
  
Tai turned off the taps and stepped out of the shower, shaking his head like a dog. The water scattered in tiny beads across the linoleum floor, shimmering in the light. He pulled on a pair of boxer and his pants for school, then opened the medicine cabinet and dry swallowed two tylenols. God praise the man who invented that drug.  
  
"Tai, get out of the shower! The rest of us have to use it too, you know!" yelled his sister, knocking on the door. She was her usual, `chipper' morning self. Anyone who thought she was sweet and nice all the time had definitely not seen her before she fully woke up.  
  
"Why? It's not going to help the way you look no matter how many showers you take," he replied. Kari semi-growled from the other side on the door. It wasn't that he didn't love his sister, she could just be annoying sometimes. Especially lately, since she had begun to make little aww noises every time Sora called for homework, or if he called her. Kari didn't seem to understand that they were just friends - like they had always been and always would be. Tai left the shower and walked back to his room to finish changing.  
  
Kari slammed the bathroom door indignantly and he couldn't help but smile. She would forgive him before she was done in the shower, she always did.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Kari, we're going to be late!"  
  
His sister came bounding down the stairs and checked her hair one last time in the mirror. He hated the fact that she was growing up. She was his little sister, she wasn't supposed to be trying to look good for guys yet. Half the time he had a hidden urge to strangle both T.K. and Davis, especially since he knew what was probably running through their heads. If they were thinking /that/ about his sister he'd . . .  
  
"Alright, let's go." She grabbed her backpack and smiled at Tai. At least she had forgiven him. The smile faded from her face as she looked at him more closely, "Are you okay? You don't look very good."  
  
"Nah, I'm fine. Just a little tired." He'd forgotten just how perceptive she could be.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah, come on. We're honestly going to be late if we don't hurry." Tai really didn't feel like walking this morning but he had no other choice. His mom had to go into work at ten so he couldn't take the car.  
  
When they had walked about halfway to school, a red convertible pulled up beside himself and Kari on the empty street.  
  
"Hey Tai," cooed the blonde girl sitting in the passenger seat. The driver waved at him and winked. They were both cheerleaders - senior cheerleaders.  
  
"Hi Missy, Victoria. What's up?"  
  
"Nothing really. We were just admiring the hot guy walking down the street." She smiled suggestively at him. Kari rolled her eyes. "You playing tonight?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Great, we'll see you there. Hey, do you want a ride to school? We're sort of short on seats but I could always sit on your lap."  
  
Tai could feel his cheeks heating up. He really wanted to go but he couldn't just leave Kari to walk alone. "Maybe another time, Missy," he said, flashing her his trademark lopsided grin.  
  
"Another time then." She and Victoria drove off, leaving him and Kari alone on the street once again. His sister sighed.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"What happened Tai? You look like shit."  
  
"Good morning to you too, Sora. You always have such a pleasant way of greeting me."  
  
"Sorry, force of habit. Honestly though, what's wrong?" Sora grabbed some books out of her locker as she spoke, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. Did she even realize how numbingly and devastatingly beautiful she looked? Sure, she would always be a tomboy and she swore like a sailor (as the expression went), but she was undeniably pretty. Maybe it was her apathetic view towards classic feminine behavior that made her so appealing. She wasn't constantly babbling about her clothes and hair like most of the girls he knew. Or maybe it was the way she looked in a tennis skirt . . .   
  
WHAT was wrong with him? She was his best friend, he shouldn't have been thinking about her like that! "Oh, I'm just tired."  
  
She cocked her right eyebrow, a sure sign that she didn't believe him. As he bent down to pick up his physics and trigonometry binder from the bottom of his locker, she placed a cool, gentle hand on his forehead. A worried look darkened her amber eyes, "Tired, huh?" she scoffed. Her voice dropped into a softer tone, "Tai, you're burning up. You should have really stayed home today."  
  
"Thank you for your expert opinion, Dr. Takenouchi, but I'll be fine."  
  
"Are you sure?" She sounded just like Kari. It was like having two extra mothers.  
  
"Positive." He watched as she carefully placed her books in her bag and smiled to himself at how much she had grown up in the last three years, "I'm feeling better already."  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The bell rang, signifying the end of period two. Tai tossed his test on the top of the pile and hurried up two flights of stairs to his next class, parenting. Okay, he admitted it, he only took the class for three reasons - one, it was a bird course; two, it was a great way to meet girls; and three, Home Ec was full - but it was actually pretty fun. Today they were going to be split into partners and have to take care of a kid (actually stuffed toys with sensors in them) for a night. His overnight bag was already packed in his locker. Man, he hoped he got Carli Walker. She was the hottest girl in the tenth grade and he definitely wouldn't mind if he got to sleep over at her house.  
  
"Tai, hold up," called a voice from behind him. Sora was standing in the stairwell about four steps below him, having just come from her calculus class. She hurried up the steps and joined him on his left side, smiling, "So, how are you feeling?"  
  
"Better." To be honest, he was still a little cold, but it was nothing to worry about.  
  
"That's good. How did the physics test go."  
  
"Not bad. I think I got the section on vector and scalar quantities messed up, though."  
  
"I'm sure you did fine." They entered the already full classroom, reverberating with student chatter.  
  
"Probably." He set his backpack down on the chair with a thump. As he did, their teacher entered the room carrying a box of stuffed, fuzzy white balls that - to Tai's surprise - resembled the digimon in their `in training' forms.   
  
"Oh, I forgot we get our kids today. They look a lot like the . . ."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I hope they don't cry to much."  
  
"I just hope I don't get stuck with someone who won't do any work. That's always my luck with these kinds of projects," she exclaimed, taking her seat.   
  
"Alright class, settle down!" yelled Ms. Yokayama over their chitchat which instantly died down. She was not a teacher you crossed. She held up one of the dolls and began to talk, "Today you will be divided into pairs and given one of these, your children. It is your responsibility to feed them, change them, and generally look after their well being for the next twenty-four hours as you would for any infant. The chip and sensor inside will allow me to monitor the amount of attention the child was given, so yes, I will know if you leave it in your locker overnight. Are there any questions?"  
  
"Who are our partners?" asked a girl Tai didn't know.  
  
"You will each pick a number out of the pile on my desk, boys on the right and girls on the left. Whoever your number matches is your partner and that way we will avoid discrepancies over whether or not the partnering is fair."  
  
Tai groaned along with the rest of the class and prayed he would get someone halfway decent. He took it as a good sign when he pulled out number seven, the number on his soccer jersey, and went to find who he was paired with. He noticed Carli was looking around for hers as well.  
  
"So Carli, what number do you have?" he asked nonchalantly, grinning at her.  
  
"Oh Tai, please tell me you have number four. I don't want to be stuck with some loser."  
  
He grimaced. "Sorry, I'm number seven."  
  
"Seven? Damn. I was hoping I would get some time to get to know you better," she pouted coyly.  
  
"I guess we'll have to make time then." She smiled and walked away, looking for whoever was lucky enough to have picked the number four.  
  
"Gag," came Sora's response from behind him. She had just walked up. "You are an absolutely sickening flirter, do you know that?"  
  
"I try." He smiled at her teasingly. "So, who's lucky enough to have you for a wife?"  
  
"I don't have a clue. I've asked almost everybody but no one's got my number."  
  
"Which is what?"  
  
"Seven."  
  
Tai practically choked.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Look Tai. I took the thing all afternoon, the least you could do is look after it during my tennis match," fumed Sora, opening her locker with a violent jerk.  
  
"I can't, I'm busy." He was not about to take that little ball of fuzz out onto the soccer field.  
  
"Doing what? You have a big date with Carli or something?"  
  
"No," he replied angrily, beginning to feel very frustrated, "I have soccer."  
  
"You always have soccer!"  
  
"And you always have tennis," he reminded her, trying desperately to keep his voice down. Students were starting to stare at them. He gritted his teeth, "Come on, you know what it's like on a soccer field. It's loud and rough and . . ."  
  
"A place where no one will notice if it cries. Tai, you come on, you know how quiet tennis courts are. They'd kick me out if it started making noise. You have to take it, there's nothing I can do."  
  
  
She was right, he hated when she was. "Alright, fine, I'll take the thing. You know," he said, hoping to lighten the subject, "maybe we should stop calling it "It" and "The Thing," it needs a name."  
  
"Like . . .?"  
  
"How about Taiora?" he suggested. She grinned at him amusedly. She had obviously forgiven him.  
  
"How come your name gets to come first?"  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Large drops of rain pelted down on the soccer field from the black sky just as half time was called. Tai pulled on his royal blue windbreaker and ran with the rest of the team and spectators to wait under the overhang of the school during the ten minute break. He pulled his arms around his chest, it was starting to get cold.   
  
That was when he heard it, the unmistakable cry of a baby. "Oh shit," he cursed under his breath. He had left Taiora under the bench and if he didn't hurry it was going to get soaked. Sora was going to kill him if she found out he had left it out in the rain. It was already a bit wet when he got there but it didn't look as if any permanent damage had been done. He wrapped it in his jacket and hurried back to the overhang, but to his horror it wouldn't stop crying.  
  
"Hey Kamiya, shut that damn thing up!" bitched his teammate, a senior named Yamazaki, irritably.   
  
Tai rocked it back and forth, rubbed its back, and walked around, but nothing seemed to be working. There was only one more thing he could think of doing, but it was definitely a last resort.  
  
"Either you shut that thing up, or next time we go out on the field we'll be using a little white fluffy ball, kid."  
  
Last resort time. He remembered hearing his mom singing to Kari when she used to cry but he didn't know very many slow songs and he wasn't about to sing a lullaby in front of his friends. As he watched the rain he was suddenly hit with inspiration. It was a song he always put on when he was feeling . . . well, angsty. It described how he felt.   
  
The dolls crying subsided just as the referee called the end of halftime. It was still pouring. Tai left his jacket wrapped around Taiora as he took his place as forward. It didn't matter if he got a little wet.  
  
*~*~*~* End Of Tai's Chapter *~*~*~*  
- Tai Luva  
  
A/N: What was the song Tai was singing? Will he and Sora pass the project? What surprises does this rainy night hold in store for these two? I know you don't really care but if you want to find out, check out the next chapter. Luv and Peace ^_^ 


	2. Sora's Night

Wow, I can't believe someone came to the next part. I feel so proud. Woowoo! Thanks for coming.  
  
Once Upon A Project  
Chapter 2: Sora's Night  
  
Sora turned the key in the lock happily, she had just won her tennis match and the adrenalin high was still pumping through her veins. "Hello? I'm home," she called into the dark house. There was no reply. As usual.  
  
She took off her wet jacket and hung it behind the door, flicking on the porch and foyer light as she did. On her way to the bathroom to take a bath, she noticed the light blinking on the answering machine at the end of the hall. She sighed. She sometimes wished she was one of those girls that got five calls every time she went out from admiring boyfriends, but the only calls she ever got were from telemarketers. Oh, and Tai, but he didn't really count, he was just a friend.  
  
She paused and closed her eyes, thinking of his disheveled hair, his deep brown eyes, his charming grin. He had grown up a lot in the last three years but in his heart he was still the same old Tai that she knew and loved. Well, not loved but liked . . . as a friend.  
  
WHAT was wrong with her? He was her best friend, she shouldn't have been thinking about him like that!   
  
She pressed the play button, "You have three messages," informed the annoying little digital voice, followed by her mother's, "Hi honey. I'm sorry I'm not home, I had a chance to pick up a double shift tonight. Good luck working on that little project of yours. I hope you got a good partner. Oh, by the way, there's casserole in the fridge, Mrs, Kamiya brought it over this morning before she went to work. She's such a thoughtful woman. And Tai is such a charming young man. I'll be home around four this morning. Love you. Bye." Sora groaned, her mom was /always/ talking about how talented or nice or athletic or good looking Tai was. It was like she was the leader of his personal fan club. It wasn't like Sora didn't know just how perfect he was anyway. "Message two," spouted the little voice, cutting through her thoughts, "Hi. Sora? Ugh, it's Izzy. I . . . um . . ." She laughed. Izzy was terrible on the phone, he should have definitely stuck to email. Unfortunately, her computer had crashed and since she had asked him to fix it some time this weekend, he knew the only way he could reach her was through the phone. "Oh, yeah. Can you bring the book I lent you back tomorrow? I have to do a book report on it. Thanks. Bye." Sora scribbled down the message so she wouldn't forget. "Message three." Sora swore she was going to strangle the person who recorded those little messages if she met them someday. "Hi, we were just calling to ask if you were interested in purchasing term life insurance. We'll give you a call back later." What did she just say? Stupid telemarketers.  
  
She grabbed a sweatshirt and jeans from her closet and began to run the bath water. It was 5:30 and Tai was coming over around six, so she had just enough time. She slipped into the warm water and let it relax her body. It was so great to have a bath and unwind, especially after a stressful tennis game.  
  
In the last match she had been down forty-love but she came back, and after four aces won the game, set and match. It was a great feeling. Too bad no one was there to see it. Her mom was always at work, but sometimes Tai came and watched her when he wasn't busy.  
  
She remembered the last game he had come to, when she was playing the under seventeen club champion. After Sora had won the first two sets and the rest of the spectators were clapping politely, Tai was jumping up and down, screaming at the top of his lungs to her opponent, "Take that you Anna Kornikova wannabe! Sora's gonna kick your sorry blonde ass all over the court! And she looks better than you in a tennis skirt, too!" Of course, he did get himself removed from the club for the rest of the day and became forever known to the other members as 'Sora's unbalanced friend,' but it was sweet of him.  
  
She got out of the tub, toweled herself dry, then plugged in the blow dryer and began to do her hair. She had just finished getting dressed when the doorbell rang. She opened the front door and found herself standing face to face with a soaked and shivering Tai carrying a small, blue, wrapped bundle close to his chest in one arm and a duffle bag in the other. He was dripping mud on the front porch and smelt strongly of sweat. His hair was plastered to his head. He looked amazing. "Hey, S...Sora," he chattered out, "Nice weather we're having, huh?"  
  
"Oh, you reek and you must be freezing. Come inside, let me get you a towel." She couldn't help but smile a bit, he looked like a little boy - all lost and cold and shivering. She ran to the linen closet and got him a bath sheet. By the time she had returned, he had set down his bag and stripped off the wet jersey but he still held the little bundle close to his chest. He grabbed for the towel and handed the blue package to her carefully.  
  
"Here, hold this for a second." He began to towel himself dry rather aggressively, "You know Sora, you should really look into being a hostess."  
  
"And why's that?"  
  
"Because you're such a natural at greeting people. I mean, think of all the precious gems you've wasted on me alone today. 'You reek' 'You look like shit.' You really know how to make a guy feel special," he answered with such a serious look on his face that she had to laugh.  
  
"I'll remember that."  
  
"Can I use your shower?"  
  
"No," she replied. He looked at her sideways before she continued. "The head's broken, but you can have a bath."  
  
"Cool, I'll be out in a few minutes." He bounded down the hallway with his bag. She picked up the wet shirt off the floor and went downstairs to throw it in the dryer. She wondered how he could have possibly gotten so wet since the whole soccer team had jackets. As she looked down at her hand, she realized that was what the bundle was wrapped in. What was Tai thinking? He had allowed himself to get soaked in fifty degree weather with a cold just so they could do well on some stupid project. That was Tai for you, putting the good of the group before his own personal needs.  
  
"Hey Sora?" came the faint call from upstairs. Wow, she had been down here thinking for almost ten minutes. She put their 'kid' on the sofa as she made her way to the bathroom and stood in the hallway outside the door.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you have any real Tylenol? All I can find is this Tylenol PMS crap . . . oh and these Estrogen pills. Man, I'd hate to be at your house at the wrong time of the month."  
  
She tried not to blush. "Yep, there's some in the kitchen cupboard. Why, is your fever back?"  
  
"No," he replied a little too quickly, "No, I just have a headache."  
  
"Alright, I'll go get you some." By the time she had dug the little red bottle out of the back of the cupboard, Tai had changed and emerged from the bathroom. He was wearing an outfit very similar to her own - a baggy sweatshirt and jeans - and she noticed he was still shivering slightly.  
  
She handed him two pills and he swallowed them dry, not even waiting for a glass of water, the towel still in his hand. From the living room, the shrill sound of a baby crying broke the basic quiet of the house.  
  
Tai followed her to the couch and she picked up the little ball of white fluff (which had somehow gotten suspiciously muddy on the bottom) and held it, rocking it against her chest, "It took me forever to get it to be quiet in Chemistry today."  
  
"Toss it here, I know what to do," Tai exclaimed eagerly, obviously proud of what he thought were his amazing paternal skills.  
  
"Toss it here? Oh yeah, that's making me real happy to hand you over what's supposed to represent a new born child."  
  
He sighed, "You know what I mean. Please gently pass me Taiora so I may quiet her cries."  
  
"Much better." She handed him the fluff and to her surprise, he began to sing to it.  
  
"All I can say is that my life is pretty plain  
I like watching the puddles gather rain  
And all I can do is just pour some tea for two and speak my point of view  
But it's not sane, it's not sane  
I just want someone to say to me  
I'll always be there when you wake  
You know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today  
So stay with me and I'll have it made  
  
And I don't understand why I sleep all day  
And I start to complain that there's no rain  
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake  
And it rips my life away but it's a great escape  
  
All I can say is that my life is pretty plain  
You don't like my point of view 'cause I'm insane  
It's not sane . . . it's not sane."   
  
To her surprise, the baby had stopped crying. Tai nodded proudly and smiled, "See, I'm the man." He sat down in one of the armchairs.  
  
"Oh right, it's especially manly to be singing a lullaby." To be quite honest, she thought it seemed to make him even more irresistible. Oh, why was she thinking these things about him now? He was more interested in girls like Carli Walker anyway.  
  
"It's not a lullaby," he replied indignantly, "It's Blind Melon. You're just jealous that I'm better at being a mom than you. Besides . . ." His eyes went wide. He slumped forward in the chair, his head hanging between his knees.   
  
"Tai? Tai, come on, quit fooling around." He didn't move. She got up from the couch and approached him slowly, "Tai, quit it. I know you're just messing with me." Still nothing. "Tai? Tai!"  
  
His head jerked up suddenly and he grinned wickedly at her, grabbing her around the waist and laughing, "Ah Sora, you know me so well."  
  
She didn't know whether to cry with joy that he was okay or smack him. Instead, she just removed his hands from her waist and sat back down on the couch, "Tai, has anyone told you lately that you're an ASS?"  
  
He clamped his hands over his ears. "Sora please, watch the language. My virgin ears."  
  
"Your virgin anything."  
  
He mock-gasped, "Sora! I am shocked and appalled that you think that of me . . . So, what's there to eat?"   
  
"Well, apparently there's a casserole in the fridge."  
  
"It's not my mom's, is it?"  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"No, we're not eating that. I've been subjected to that culinary disaster every Wednesday for the last fifteen years of my life. My child will not have to suffer as I did!" He thrust his finger into the air to make his point. She couldn't help but giggle.  
  
"Well, technically, we're just supposed to pretend to feed it."  
  
"I don't care, it's the principle behind it. I'm making us something better. You just set the table," he instructed her, getting up to go to the kitchen.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
She stabbed the last piece of pasta with her fork and ate it. It turned out that Tai was a phenomenal cook as well as being a bottomless pit, which she already knew. Tonight, however, he just pushed the rigatoni around his plate uninterestedly. He noticed she was looking at him.  
  
"So, how do you like your supper? It's my special recipe."  
  
She laughed at the open jar of sauce on the kitchen counter, "Tai, if it comes from a jar it doesn't count as a special recipe."  
  
"But it should," he countered teasingly. "After all, I opened the jar, put it in a pot, AND heated it up."  
  
"You still didn't technically make it, though."  
  
"Meh, minor detail." She cleared her dish from the table and was followed by Tai, who scraped the remainder of his meal into the garbage under the sink then put his plate in the dishwasher, "So, what do we have to do now?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean what's left for us to do to be good parents? We've successfully completed the feeding. I don't know about you but, personally, I don't want to fail."  
  
"I don't know, I guess bath and bed."  
  
"Bath? We can't exactly get it wet."  
  
"Sure we can. Weren't you listening? The sensors inside are waterproof."  
  
"WHAT?"   
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Sora turned sleepily over on her side and groaned, putting her hands over her ears. It was too early. Why was it crying? She propped herself up on her elbows and squinted into the darkness. Tai lay huddled into a near-fetal position about three feet away and Taiora was between them, screaming loudly.  
  
She turned on the table lamp then picked up the child, gently rocking it to no avail. It continued to cry. Tai mumbled something inaudibly and rolled over. She couldn't help but feel frustrated with him. They were supposed to be partners, how could he possibly leave her to do all the work now? And how could he possibly sleep through all that noise?   
  
"Tai," she nudged him through the side of his sleeping bag, "Tai, get up. We're supposed to do this together." He just moaned weakly and pulled the covers up tighter to himself. She noticed now that he was shaking visibly, "Tai?" If he was joking again she would absolutely . . .   
  
But something inside herself told her that he wasn't. She put down the still shrieking doll and moved closer to where he lay, placing her hand on his forehead. It was hot and clammy to the touch, "Tai, come on, wake up for me."   
  
He opened his eyes slightly, squinting. "Sora? Just turn off the light and let's go back to bed, okay? It's too early to get up, I just want to sleep." His voice was shaky and hoarse. He leaned back and closed his eyes.  
  
"I need you to stay awake for a little bit longer, alright Tai? I'll be back in a second." She practically ran to the bathroom to get the thermometer from the medicine cabinet. When she had gotten back, he was already asleep again. She put the thermometer in his ear and waited for it to beep, the three seconds taking seemingly forever. She held it up to the light and checked it again, not quite believing the reading. The tiny digital numbers indicated his temperature was 103.8 degrees.   
  
"Tai, wake up. We're going to go to the hospital."  
  
He looked at her confusedly. "Why? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" His eyes were filled with baffled concern. He rubbed his temples, tried to sit up unsteadily, then collapsed back on his pillow with a sigh.   
  
"Yeah, Tai, I'm fine. Come on, get up." She gently unzipped his sleeping bag.  
  
"You go then, I'm just going to stay here and sleep."  
  
"No Tai, you're coming too." She lifted him up from beneath his arms and placed him on the couch as gently as she could, he was almost more than she could lift. Pulling on her sweatshirt and jeans hastily, she grabbed the keys and her licence from the kitchen counter. It was only 3:30, her mom wasn't home from work yet.  
  
"Sora, I don't want to," he protested feebly as she tugged his shirt over his head, "Besides, what about our project?"  
  
She didn't care about the damn project. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. We're going to go now, okay? Can you get up and walk with me to the garage?"  
  
"No. Sora, please, can I just stay?" He sounded like he was going to cry.  
  
"All I want you to do is walk out to the car, can't you do that for me, Tai?"  
  
"For you?"  
  
"Yeah, for me. Please."   
  
He bit his bottom lip and stood up shakily. She slipped his arm under his and he leaned heavily on her, shuddering with a force that was near violence. She helped him into the passenger seat of her Acura and pealed out of the subdivision, the eerie orange lights reflecting off the wet street and lighting the car with their unnatural glow.   
  
Tai looked ghostly pale and was convulsing uncontrollably, his chattering teeth the only sound that broke the night's stillness as she raced to the hospital. They were only about two minutes away now. He rocked back and forth, his arms crossed over his chest. "Sora, I'm sorry."  
  
"There's nothing to be sorry about."  
  
"But we're going to fail the project now. It's my fault."  
  
"Forget about the stupid project, I don't care if I fail. I care about you."  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yes, I do. Don't you know that? Tai, you mean everything to me. You're my best friend, I can't even imagine what my life would be like without you. I don't want to." She pulled into the hospital's lot and parked the car.  
  
"I, . . . I care about you, too."  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Sora sat in Parenting, staring at the empty seat beside her. Tai had been at home for almost a week and class seemed just a little bit lonelier without him. She couldn't help but miss him, even though she did go visit him everyday after school. She yawned and waited for the bell to ring for lunch. She had completed her work fifteen minutes ago and had nothing to do.   
  
Ms. Yokayama cleared her throat and stood up from her desk, "Class, if you want to get your marks from last week's project, I will be handing them out after class."  
  
Sora grimaced, she hoped they passed. Luckily, when she had came home that night she found her mom had got it to stop crying, but she still wasn't sure it was enough - it had sat alone for at least a half an hour. Maybe it would be better if she didn't find out their mark. As the bell rang and the rest of the class started to filter out the door, Sora packed up her books. The class was empty by the time she had finished. She slipped past the teacher's desk and was almost out the door when Ms. Yokayama spoke, "Ms. Takenouchi, don't you want your and Mr. Kamiya's mark? It was 93%, the best in the class."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yes, out of all the children, your's cried for the least amount of time - only about an hour and eighteen minutes I believe. Most of the pairs averaged around three hours. Excellent work." Sora didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Sora pushed the door open to Tai's room gently. Kari had told her to go right in but she didn't want to wake him if he was sleeping. He was propped against his pillows, reading, and gave her a small wave as she entered. "Hey, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much. I brought you soup." She held up the thermos. "And homework. Which would you like first"  
  
"Soup now and homework later," he replied grinning, "Much later. The doctor said I probably won't be able to go back to school until Monday, so I'll be starting that about Sunday night. At least I don't have homework in gym and parenting. Man, I wonder how we did on that project."  
  
"Actually, I got the mark back today."  
  
"And?"   
  
"93%. It was the highest in the class."  
  
He started to laugh, "You're joking."  
  
"Nope. It must've been the Blind Melon."   
  
"Or the lack of my mom's casserole." He opened the thermos and began to drink the soup out of the lid. The bottomless pit was back. "Hey, this is actually pretty good."  
  
"It's my special recipe. Well, maybe Campbell's helped a little."   
  
"Sora, if it comes from a jar it doesn't count as a special recipe."  
  
"It didn't come from a jar," she informed him, smiling. "It came from a can."  
  
The End   
  
Well, there it is. Thanks for reading! ^_^ Review if you want to. Bye!  
  
Tai Luva   



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